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GOURMET NEWS DECEMBER 2017 www.gourmetnews.com SUPPLIER NEWS 1 3 Fran Bigelow Makes Her Name in Chocolates BY LORRIE BAUMANN On Fran Bigelow's list of the most impor- tant things in life, chocolate is way up there. Like, really way up there. A visit to Paris planted the seed in 1969, when Bigelow walked into a chocolate shop and found something that had been miss- ing from her life. "The smell and the taste of the chocolate was something we didn't have here. We just didn't," she says. When she returned home to Seattle, Washington, that thought came with her. "I was very interested in fine food, and I was taking cooking classes, and I ended up pursu- ing my love of cooking at the California Culi- nary Academy," she says. "It's all been wrapped up in fine food and chocolate, and it's been really great." The seed planted during that trip to Paris blossomed in 1982 when Bigelow opened the first of what is now four retail stores, all in Seattle. The location is not a coinci- dence, and it's more than just that it's Bigelow's home. "Seattle is a really welcom- ing place for new businesses, and it still has that very supportive atmosphere," she says. In the early 1980s, chocolate wasn't a su- perfood — an entire concept that hadn't yet been born — and the American food move- ment was in its infancy. Bigelow's obsession with chocolate was a little odd back then. She spent a lot of time educating her cus- tomers about what fine chocolate was sup- posed to taste like and why it was more expensive than the mass-marketed prod- ucts, an effort that continues today. "At that time, great chocolate was not readily avail- able. This was a commitment to finding high-quality chocolate and working with it," she says. "Because at Fran's, chocolate is the central focus, and when you eat a Fran's product, you should always taste the wonderful flavors of fine chocolate." "All along, we have been trying to educate people about what fine chocolate is," she adds. "Now we've developed some really fine tasters who are holding us to higher standards, so it's been a really nice ride." Her search for better and better chocolate has led her to a recent reformulation of many of her products with all organic in- gredients, following two years of work get- ting organic certification and fair trade certification. "We now use a very good or- ganic chocolate," Bigelow says. Fran's Chocolates' Almond Gold Bar, winner of the 2017 sofi Award for Best New Product in the Chocolate Candy category, and Macadamia Gold Bar are two of those. The Almond Gold Bar is made with caramel and roasted al- monds and dark choco- late, and the Macadamia Gold Bar is the same, ex- cept that it has macadamia nuts instead of almonds. Frans' Chocolates' Gray Salt Caramels, made with 67 percent dark chocolate and finished with sea salt har- vested off the coast of Brittany, and Milk Chocolate Smoked Salt Caramels, dipped in 39 percent deep milk chocolate and sprinkled with sea salt smoked over Welsh oak, were the first of Fran's Chocolates' products to go organic, and the company's Park Bar, made of milk chocolate with roasted peanuts, is now organic as well, as is the Fran's Chocolates Dark Chocolate Sauce, Caramel Sauce, and Raspberry Sauce. "Those have been a huge hit," Bigelow says. "With the Chocolate Sauce and Caramel Sauce, you're going to have it on ice cream, and particularly for children, people are incorporating organic ingredi- ents and sustainable philosophy in all of their food decisions." Bigelow's children, small when she began making chocolate and feed- ing a good deal of it to them, have now joined her in the business. Her son, Dylan, is now the company's Director of Chocolate and does a great deal of work on recipe development. Her daughter, Andrina, with a master's de- gree in business administra- tion from Cornell University, is the company's Chief Executive Officer. Bigelow herself stays busy with quality control and staff training, which is particularly vital for a company that's still a very seasonal busi- ness. The company has a permanent staff of about 85 employees, but additional em- ployees come on board as production ramps up for the holiday season. "All the wonderful staff at Fran's have worked so hard together to get to this place, and everybody's been totally on board. It's made expansion doable while keeping the quality everything we want it to be. ... It's been a wonderful 35 years and a great way to enjoy the family and build something we're really proud of." GN Prairie Farms Hauls Home Awards from Dairy Competitions Prairie Farms Dairy took home dozens of awards from the 2017 World Dairy Expo Product Competition. The awards cere- mony was held on October 3 at the 2017 World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wisconsin. Prairie Farms competed in nearly 30 cat- egories and won 40 awards. The awards in- cluded 14 first place championship trophies, 11 second place medallions, and 15 third place medallions. The big win in- cluded six perfect scores for salted caramel milk, sea salt caramel milk, white milk (two trophies), chocolate milk and whip- ping cream. Prairie Farms swept the com- petition in three categories: southwest dip, low-fat chocolate milk, and fat-free choco- late milk. "To earn prestigious World Dairy Expo Awards, a dairy company must offer top- quality products. Prairie Farms competed in 27 categories and won 40 awards, that's nearly 50 percent of total category awards and more than any of our competitors. Our performance was outstanding in all cate- gories," said Rebecca Leinenbach, Vice Pres- ident of Marketing and Communications for Prairie Farms. "We serve millions of cus- tomers each day who deserve the highest quality products available, and during the past 75 years they have counted on Prairie Farms' commitment to delivering the best of the best from our farms to their tables." The World Dairy Expo Championship Dairy Product Contest, sponsored by the Wisconsin Dairy Products Association, is the only judging contest of its kind in North America. More than 1,200 products were entered from all over the country in 79 con- test classes, including cheese, fluid milk, yogurt, butter, sour cream, dairy dips, ice cream, cottage cheese and whey products. Prairie Farms results from 2017 state fair competitions in Illinois, Missouri and Ken- tucky were equally impressive. Over 150 red, white and blue ribbons were awarded in numerous categories. New this year for Prairie Farms were entries in the Illinois State Fair Cheese Competition where the company's cheese division won blue rib- bons for cream cheese, blue cheese, and gorgonzola. The Missouri win included five blue rosette ribbons, which are the highest- ranking ribbons, for sour cream, ice cream, yogurt, fat-free milk and iced coffee. In Ken- tucky, six gold medals were awarded for butter, cottage cheese, chocolate milk, but- termilk, low-fat and reduced-fat milk. GN Argentinian Continued from PAGE 1 Forbes, Executive Vice President and Gen- eral Manager of California Olive Ranch. This Lucini's new 100 percent Argentinian oil is a mild, green, fruity oil, a blend of the Arbe- quina, Picual, and Italian varietals including Coratina and Frantoio, Arbequina and Arauco varietals, that's great for everyday use, he said, adding that, "Once we tasted it, we fell in love with it." All of the olives for the new Lucini oil are grown in the wine regions of Mendoza, which is also where the grapes for Malbec wines are grown, and in south San Juan. "We work directly with the pro- ducers. We visit directly with our team," Forbes said. "We hand-select all of the oil at harvest. ... We take every container of olive oil and test it to make sure that it meets our specifications and the specifica- tions that define extra virgin olive oil." The olive growers from whom California Olive Ranch Lucini sources the oils are mostly family farmers, some of Italian her- itage as the result of a wave of Italian immi- gration that happened in Argentina at the beginning of the 20th century, just as many Italians arrived in the U.S. at that time. It's estimated that around half of Argentina's current population has some degree of Ital- ian descent. Other contributors of fruit to the Lucini oil are Argentinian growers who've become attracted to the olives as a new crop over the past decade or two. These Argentinian producers are entrepre- neurial and progressive, bringing a New World perspective to their craft as well as the savvy to team up with Lucini and Cali- fornia Olive Ranch, which have established roots in the American market and the dis- tribution network that goes along with that, according to Forbes. "The U.S. is a pretty tough place to do business," he said. "We can help growers with that because we're taking the product and bringing it to the shelf all the way to the consumer." California Olive Ranch also offers the strength of the Lucini brand, which is al- ready familiar to American consumers. "We're taking this great Argentinian oil and we're showcasing it as a 100 percent Argen- tinian oil, and that's really exciting for the growers," Forbes said. "What we have seen in the U.S. is that there's a huge and in- creasing demand for high-quality olive oil. People want to know where it's from. They want high-quality oil with good flavor." Adding the Argentinian oil into the com- pany's product range will help ensure the availability of fresh oil on the shelf throughout the year, since Argentina's loca- tion in the southern hemisphere means that its olives are ready for harvest during the United States' spring. "There's obvi- ously a freshness benefit," Forbes noted. California Olive Ranch is offering the Lu- cini Everyday Extra Virgin Olive Oil in 500 ml and 1-liter bottles. The 500 ml bottle re- tails for $10.99, with the liter retailing for $17.99. "That's a price point that works for the consumer," Forbes said. "We find that consumers are willing to pay a little extra to get something they know is good." GN

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